A leading health think tank has branded NHS services in England the worst they have been since the early 1990s.
The King’s Fund review said A&E waiting times, cancer care and operations in general were getting worse, with deficits growing.
It acknowledged that the NHS had, given the financial climate, operated as well as could be expected, but said that such drops in performance hadn’t been seen for 20 years.
Professor John Appleby, chief economist at the King’s Fund, told the BBC: “The next government will inherit a health service that has run out of money and is operating at the very edge of its limits.
“There is now a real risk that patient care will deteriorate as service and financial pressures become overwhelming.”
He said that – in terms of how standards were slipping – the situation was at its worst since the early 1990s.
“The findings echo what we are hearing on a daily basis on our helpline,” said Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association. “It is clear to the public that the future of the NHS is one of the most important issues facing the nation and it should be a central issue in the election campaign.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health added: “As the King’s Fund says, the NHS has ‘performed well in the face of huge challenges’, but if we are to continue to invest in the NHS going forward it needs to be backed by a strong economy.”